Indy 500: Power leads Penske 1-2 after first day

Will Power and Simon Pagenaud put Team Penske-Chevrolet at the top of the speed charts in the opening day of practice for the 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.

Power got a major tow to set his fastest speed of 229.745mph, on his 41st of 68 laps edging teammate and last weekend’s IndyCar Grand Prix winner Simon Pagenaud by a mere 0.043mph.

The defending Indy 500 winner said that his car’s handling was difficult in traffic at the start of the day as all teams had to adapt to the new Firestone rubber which has been designed to eliminate some of the confidence-sapping understeer that most drivers encountered in traffic last year. Once configured, Power said the #12 5G Verizon entry was much more comfortable in dirty air.

Running in a Penske ‘train’, Power and Pagenaud overcame Ed Carpenter’s morning time as well as their own teammate Helio Castroneves.

Colton Herta’s morning speed held up well, and he finished the day fifth, albeit causing the only non-debris related caution flag, when he spun exiting pitlane having “bit off more than I could chew” speed-wise on the warm-up lane. The rookie hit the brakes fast enough to keep the car from drifting onto the race surface proper as cars passed at 220mph-plus, although he burned a hole through one of his rear tires.

Sebastien Bourdais’ Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan entry was sixth ahead of a trio of Andretti Autosport-Hondas, led by Zach Veach.

Ed Jones in the Ed Carpenter Racing Scuderia Corsa entry finished 10th overall, but was fastest without the aid of a tow, clocking a 224.542mph.

Scott Dixon in the Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda set the fastest trap speed, heading up to Turn 1 at 236.128mph.

A gearbox issue that prevented Patricio O’Ward from going through his Rookie Orientation process in the early afternoon meant he wasn’t allowed to take part in the general practice from 3-6pm, so post-repairs, Carlin-Chevrolet teammate Max Chilton shook the car down for him, clocking a best lap about 1.3mph off his best time in his own car.

Weather allowing – and the forecast is not good – the track will open at 10.20am tomorrow, to allow O’Ward to go through the three phases of Rookie Orientation before practice is due to resume at 11am.

Alonso completed 50 laps, only one of which came in the afternoon, and he was 32nd on the speed charts. The problem was an electrical one, which persuaded McLaren to replace the whole wiring loom for tomorrow, coming as it did after an electrical problem stunted his test on April 24.